Around 1095, Guillaume de Montsoreau († c. 1101) founded and endowed the Priory of Saint-Pierre de Seuilly, which became a dependency of the Abbey of Saint-Étienne de Vaux (Charente-Maritime). Shortly before 1100, his son, Gautier de Montsoreau (1060-c. 1134), obtained the approval of Vaux to transform that priory into an abbey dedicated to the Saint Sepulchre. Gautier also increased the endowment of Seuilly.
The current chapel
The first abbot of this monastery was Pierre, who in 1114 concluded an agreement with Robert of Arbrissel (c. 1045-c. 1117) concerning properties held at Seuilly by the Abbey of Fontevraud (Maine-et-Loire). In 1150, the remaining ties with Saint-Étienne de Vaux were severed. The abbey suffered during the Hundred Years’ War and, in 1461, was devastated by a major fire, which led to extensive rebuilding works that continued until the end of that century.
During the seventeenth century, it came under the control of the Congregation of Saint-Maur, a period during which the chapel that still survives was erected. In 1736, owing to its decline, the monastery was left without a community and its administration was entrusted to the Collège de Chinon. Although monastic life had ceased, the nominal office of abbot was maintained. In 1751, a violent storm carried away the roof of the church, which thereafter fell out of use. The property was sold in 1791 following the Revolution, and the buildings began to be dismantled for their stone. The abbey church has disappeared and only a few minor structures survive.
Chapter house
Photo by Thor19, on Wikimedia
Veüe de l'Abbaye de Nostre Dame de Sully
Louis Boudan (1699)
Bibliothèque nationale de France
According to Armorial général de France (18th century)
Bibliothèque nationale de France
Tomb of Abbot Hugues († 1180)
Bibliothèque nationale de France
Tomb of Guillaume de Marmande († 1272)
and his wife Philippe de Bernezay
Bibliothèque nationale de France
- BESSE, Jean-Martial (1920). Abbayes et prieurés de l'ancienne France, vol. 8, Tours. París : Picard
- BOSSEBOEUF, Louis Augustin (1900). Le Coudray-Montpensier, l'abbaye de Seuilly et les environs. Tours: Ibousrez
- BOUCHER, André (1963). L’Abbaye de Seuilly. Bulletin de l’Association des Amis de Rabelais et de La Devinière. T. II
- CARRÉ DE BUSSEROLLE, Jacques-Xavier (1884). Dictionnaire géographique, historique et biographique d'Indre-et-Loire et de l'ancienne province de Touraine. Vol. VI. Tours: Rouillé-Ladevèze
- CHALMEL, Jean-Louis (1841). Histoire de Touraine depuis la conquête des Gaules par les Romains, jusqu'à l’année 1790. T. III. Tours
- SAINT-MAUR, Congregació de (1856). Gallia Christiana in provincias ecclesiasticas distributa. Vol. 14. París: Typographia Regia
- SEMUR, François-Christian (2011). Abbayes de Touraine. La Crèche: Geste Ed.
Seuilly is situated near Chinon, southwest of Tours